TURKEY’S NEW ECONOMY PROGRAM FOR 2019-2021

New Economy Program which will form the road map of Turkey’s economy till 2021 was announced. Treasury and Finance Minister Albayrak announced that 2019 growth forecast is 2.3 percent, and the inflation target is 15.9 percent. Unemployment is expected to be 10.8 percent at the end of 2021.

Medium Term Program is prepared under the name of New Economy Program. The new program will be for 3 years and will cover the years 2019-2021.

The main messages of the program were determined as financial discipline and change.

Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak’s statements are as follows: «The main source of motivation is to write a new success story. That’s why we called the New Economy Program. From 2002 to 2013, the economy made significant strides in many areas. Inflation went down to one digit, 7 million new employments were created. Growth was caught not only by the public sector, but also by the private sector. After 2013, Turkey has been exposed to internal and external testing, as we all witnessed. The process which started with the Gezi events at the end of May became the 15 July Impact Initiative after 17/25 December. We are going through a period when economic sanctions are used like weapons. On the 10th of August we became a part of this process. We will implement the necessary measures for the economy to overcome difficulties. We know the strengths and weaknesses of our economy. As long as we take the measures to make it stronger, our resistance will be at the highest level.

“The program stands on three main bases; equilibrium, discipline and change. 2019 GDP growth will be at 2.3 percent. 2018 was 3.8 percent, in 2020 it is estimated to be 3.5 percent. Our main goal is to make 5% of growth sustainable from 2021 on.»

The inflation target was set at 20.8 percent for 2018, 15.9 percent for 2019 and 9.8 percent for 2020. Inflation is expected to decrease to 6 percent in 2021.

The budget deficit to GDP ratio is expected to be 1.9 percent for 2018, 1.8 percent for 2019, 1.9 percent for 2020 and 1.7 percent for 2021.

According to the YEP (New Economic Program), exports are expected to be $ 170 billion this year, $ 182 billion in 2019, $ 191 billion in 2020 and $ 204.4 billion in 2021. Imports are expected to be $ 236 billion this year, $ 244 billion in 2019, $ 252 billion in 2020 and $ 267 billion in 2021.